Hot! James Randi

James Randi (bornRandall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928) is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience . Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician, asThe Amazing Randi, but after retiring at age 60, he began investigating paranormal, occult , and claims, which he collectively calls "woo-woo."

Although often referred to as a "debunker ," Randi rejects that title owing to its perceived bias, instead describing himself as an "investigator." He has written about the paranormal, skepticism , and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on Penn & Teller: Bullshit!. The JREF sponsors The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge offering a prize of US$1,000,000 to eligible applicants who can demonstrate evidence of any

Author Randi is author of Conjuring (1992), a biographical history of noted magicians. The book is subtitled: Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC!. The book selects the most influential magicians and explains their history in the context of strange deaths and careers on the road. This work expanded on the 1976 book Houdini, His Life and Art, co-authored with Bert Randolph Sugar, which focused on Houdini and his cohorts. Randi also wrote a children's book in 1989 titled The Magic World of the Amazing Randi, which introduced children to magic tricks. In addition to his magic books, he has written several educational works about the paranormal and pseudoscientific. These include biographies of Nostradamus as well as reference material on other major paranormal figures. He is currently working on A Magician in the Laboratory, which recounts his application of skepticism to science, though in January 2011, he expressed doubts as to whether it would be finished. He is a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Isaac Asimov 's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers . Skeptic Randi entered the international spotlight in 1972 when he publicly challenged the claims of charlatan and a In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. who used standard magic tricks to accomplish his allegedly paranormal feats, and he supported his claims in the book . Geller unsuccessfully sued Randi for $15 million in 1991. Geller's suit against the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) was thrown out in 1995, and he was ordered to pay $120,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit. James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) In 1996, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi and his colleagues update JREF's blog, Swift, on a daily basis. Topics have included the mathematics of the one-seventh area triangle . Randi also contributes a regular column, titled "'Twas Brillig," to Skeptic Magazine . In his weekly commentary, Randi often gives examples of what he considers the nonsense that he deals with every day. Views on religion In his essay "Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Moses , are not believable. For example, Randi refers to the Virgin Mary as being "impregnated by a ghost of some sort, and as a result produced a son who could walk on water, raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply loaves of bread and fishes" and questions how Adam and Eve "could have two sons, one of whom killed the other, and yet managed to populate the earth without committing incest." He writes that, compared to the Bible, "The Wizard of Oz is more believable. And more fun." In An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, he looks at a variety of spiritual practices skeptically. Of the meditation techniques of Guru Maharaj Ji ( ) he writes: "Only the very naive were convinced that they had been let in on some sort of celestial secret." The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge Legal disputes Randi has been involved in a variety of legal disputes but claims that he has "never paid even one dollar or even one cent to anyone who ever sued me." However, he says, he has paid out large sums to personally defend himself in these suits. Eldon Byrd A Baltimore District Court found Randi guilty of defaming Byrd for calling him a "convicted child molester" because although Byrd had been found guilty of child pornography offences and admitted to molestation, the admission was part of a plea bargain so he was not actually convicted. No damages were awarded to Byrd. Uri Geller In a 1989 interview with a Japanese newspaper, Randi was quoted as saying that had driven a metallurgist named Wilbur Franklin to "shoot himself in the head" after the scientist realized that Geller had tricked him. This statement was incorrect Franklin had died of natural causes. In the same Japanese newspaper interview, Randi also called Geller a "sociopath." In 1990, Geller sued Randi in a Japanese court over the statements Randi had made in the Japanese newspaper. Randi did not participate in the trial, but in March 1993 the judge ruled against Randi and awarded Geller 500,000 yen (at the time about US$2000). Randi refused to pay the amount. Geller later agreed not to pursue Randi for the money in a subsequent settlement with CSICOP. Randi later stated that the phrase "shot himself in the head" was a metaphor that had been lost in translation. He had made a similar statement in English three years earlier in a Toronto newspaper: "The scientist shot himself after I showed him how the key bending trick was done." Other Allison DuBois , on whose life the television series Medium was based, threatened Randi with legal action for using a photo of her from her website in his December 17, 2004, commentary without her permission. Randi removed the photo, and now uses a caricature of DuBois when mentioning her on his site, beginning with his December 23, 2005, commentary. Personal life In 1987, Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Randi has said that one reason he became an American citizen was an incident while on tour with Alice Cooper where the searched the band's lockers during a performance. Nothing was found, yet the RCMP destroyed the room. Awards and honors World records The following are Guinness records: Actor Himself

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Music See also External linksOfficial